The Gift

The Gift Release Date: August 7, 2015

Can you really go through life having never wronged anyone? Even if you are unaware of how, or when, and even who you may have wronged… chances are there is someone out there who won’t ever forget it… or you.

Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) are a young married couple whose life is going just as planned until a chance encounter with an acquaintance from Simon’s high school sends their world into a harrowing tailspin.

Simon doesn’t recognize Gordo (Joel Edgerton) at first, but after a seemingly coincidental series of encounters proves troubling, a horrifying secret from their past is uncovered after nearly 20 years.

As Robyn learns the unsettling truth about what happened between Simon and Gordo, she starts to question: how well do we really know the people closest to us, and are past bygones ever really bygones?

The movie The Gift is actor Joel Edgerton’s directorial debut. Joel Edgerton also stars in The Gift.

The Gift review
By Audrey Shine (Wild About Movies resident critic)

The Gift is a creation of Joel Edgerton, who stars as Gordy, a very suspicious, “not quite right weirdo,” stalking a supposedly average couple who move back to the husband’s home town. Edgerton wrote and directed, and actually seems to embody the character completely – subtle, but freaky.

The movie exploits the other side of Jason Bateman’s (Simon) talent. He starts off as a warm and cuddly super husband, but the whole story evolves in the opposite direction. Rebecca Hall plays his wife, Robyn, who at first glance seems totally normal and sweet, but you are left wondering at the end.

However, this is really Gordy’s movie – his story, his next move, his goals. Joel Edgerton understates the character’s strangeness so that the outcome almost favors him – the audience sympathizes with him more than Simon. A bizarre twist of events, but expertly developed in the script by Edgerton.

The previews for this movie almost told the whole story. There are still some surprises and interesting character development, so don’t feel that you’ve seen it already. But you might consider contacting your high school friends and acquaintances to make sure no one is harboring a grudge.